English Money Vocabulary
- Cost of living
How much people pay for things.
- To save up (for sth)
Save money so that you can buy something in the future.
- Standard of living
The level of money and comfort people have.
- Debt
Money which is owed to another person or organisation.
- Broke
Having completely run out of money.
- Well-off
Having a lot of money.
- To blow money
To spend money on useless things.
- To be overdrawn
To spend more money than you have in your bank account.
Michael and Mary wanted to buy a house of their own. They had lived in rented accommodation since they got married almost two years ago. They could not afford to buy a house for cash as prices were too expensive. They were broke after spending a lot of money on the wedding. They had used their credit cards to pay for the honey moon and were trying to earn money now to repay that debt.
They made an appointment with the bank manager to see if they qualified for a loan. Their friends had taken out a mortgage with the same bank and recommended that Michael and Mary should do the same. It came as a blow to them when the manager told them that they could not lend them any money yet until they demonstrated an ability to save enough money for the 10% deposit. They were very sorry now that they had wasted so much money on the holiday.
A few months later they got a very welcome and unexpected surprise. An elderly aunt, without any children of her own, died and left some money in her Will to Michael. This inheritance would be enough for the initial deposit and the bank manager confirmed they could now borrow the balance to purchase their first home.
English Money Vocabulary Words
TO AFFORD – when you have sufficient or enough money to buy what you need.
BLOW(n) – when you realise you cannot buy the item or goods you want. It comes as a blow when you understand the situation.
TO BLOW(v) MONEY – to spend money on useless things.
BROKE – when you have no money in the short or long term. You might be waiting to get paid by your employers and have no money in your bank account until you get your salary.
MORTGAGE – a way in which you can buy a house by using money borrowed from a financial institution. The house is registered in your name but the Financial Institution register a mortgage (charge) over the property until the money is repaid.
LOAN (n) and TO LEND (v) – the Financial Institution offer a person(s) a loan to buy a house or other asset. This is repaid together with interest over an agreed period, usually a number of years.
The Financial institution agreed to lend me the money to buy a car. It was called a car loan.
CREDIT CARD – a plastic card which allows you to purchase goods and articles up to an agreed limit without using cash.
The credit card company issues monthly statements and the customer repays the balance on a regular basis.
TO WASTE – where you spend all your money on goods or things which have no real value.
You waste your money on things where the value drops very quickly.
TO EARN – where money is given to you for work you have done.
He worked for a month and earned a very good salary.
TO INHERIT (v) – when someone dies they usually leave a Will. This sets out what they wish to be done with their assets (cash, house and other assets). A person who is lucky to be mentioned in the Will receives some cash or other asset. They inherit that asset. INHERITANCE (n)
RECEIPT – a piece of paper that will provide you with proof of payment if there is something wrong with the goods
INVOICE – an official document that businesses issue as a request for payment. This states the amount due and when payment is expected. This is also useful for tax returns.
BILL – when we go to a café or restaurant this is what we ask for
